Zepto completes 3 years, sees 25% higher orders on birthday
Aadit Palicha-led Zepto is focusing on expansion and increasing its categories as it tries to use fresh capital to maintain its position in the quick commerce segment.
Quick commerce unicorn marked its third anniversary with a 25% rise in daily average orders as customers flocked to the platform for discounts and free gifts.
The platform saw its highest order volume of all time on July 15th with 7.5 lakh orders, nearly 25% higher than the daily average of 6 lakh orders in the past month.
Company employees including leadership teams connected with customers by delivering some orders themselves. Co-founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra who started the company in 2021 hosted celebrations at the company’s Bangalore and Mumbai offices with initial delivery partners and long-time customers.
In June, Zepto raised $665 million at a valuation of $3.6 billion in a round that witnessed participation from new investors including Avenir, Lightspeed, and Avra. Existing investors Glade Brook, Nexus, and StepStone along with Goodwater and Lachy Groom also participated in the round.
The platform said that nearly three-fourths of the company's stores are fully EBITDA positive as of May 2024. Its gross merchandise value (GMV) has multiplied year-on-year to a base of more than $1 billion and the company now plans to focus on expansion and doubling its store count to 700 by the end of this financial year.
The company is currently looking to make its public debut in early 2025 and is focusing on growing its consumer offerings and expanding its Zepto Pass membership programme.
Zepto faces stiff competition from IPO-bound Swiggy’s Instamart and their listed peer, Zomato’s Blinkit in the quick commerce space. The market also has Big Basket’s BB Now and will soon see Flipkart’s entry into the space.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan